Oh the Ball I am Having!

I am making significant progress already on the case. I must say my heart has warmed very quickly to the sheer pomp of the planning; the catering, the decoration, the food – including this massive three-tiered cake! – I have reviewed every detail and I must say I am I can give very few clues, but I have decided to divert attention away from searching the premise and instead to the possibility that the weapon will be brought to the event…

Furthermore my hosts, Daniel and Esteban, have graciously invited me to attend the very party that I was hired to protect. Imagine me – Hercule Poirot at a Ball! Can you believe? Admittedly I do not know if I have the energy to attend, but I feel I must go to demonstrate my commitment to the case and safety of Daniel and Esteban.

10 Responses to “Oh the Ball I am Having!”

No, the event is tomorrow; however the magnitude of this event is so great however that such care is required with the packing and unpacking. I must say that Daniel’s event planning is masterful; he has a keen eye and a clear vision, and he is perhaps an obsession with detail – even for Hercule Poirot!

Is this event/party possibly the same-sex marriage of Daniel and Esteban? Or maybe the same-sex marriage for some friends of theirs? You mentioned a 3-tier cake that’s why I ask. I don’t know if the specifics of the event have anything to do with the threats. A scorned lover using religion, hate & fear to prevent the wedding from happening… maybe possibly?

Following from Yankeewhite’s post, I agree that someone using the reliogious bigot card as a smokescreen. If the purported motive is false, than the threatened means might also be misdirection. By that token, I suspect the Cake may be the intended vector. Poison, would just as effectively kill as a bomb if the plan is to kill as many as possible. Alternatively, it IS likely to be centrally placed, and an ideal place to put a bomb anyway.

Have your clients used the same catering service every time? Are there any other groups they’ve used for all their previous events?

I hope you’ve already figured this all out. Failing that, I hope you read this in time to act on it.

Exactement, Monsieur Yvonmukluk! It is either in the cake, the decorations or in the catering in mind – such would explain the persistence of the plotter with this particular couple. But I cannot simply guess one, nor accuse all three. I want to know who the plotter is and lure him into a trap. So what I had Daniel and Esteban do is to call up their services and announce that they were going to cancel their order – not because the event itself was cancelled but because they got a much better offer.

To see which of them where willing to make a counteroffer, regardless of financial cost? Presumably the plotter put a lot of effort into this plan, and they’d want to see it through, especially when it was so close to completion. The fact the orders were cancelled not out of fear but simple financial sense meant the event was going to go ahead anyway.

Exactement – and if I were to tell you that the baker whose name is Enrico Vespucci, upon hearing of our counter-offer, was so desperate to keep our business that he railed excuse after excuse about how he had already prepared the materials necessary, that he couldn’t cancel and finally despite profitability he offered to give the cake to us ‘gratuitement’ – free of charge – as one time special offer for our party. I believe we have found our culprit – and soon we will find out! In 30 minutes the cake will be delivered to the venue. I have alerted the police to await, as you say, ‘the sting’, for this man Vespucci, and with their inquiry we will soon know the nature of his business!

I hope the police have taken the necessary precautions to deal with the device. That aside, I assume that the other supplies, once having been cleared, are once more providing the party supplies? It’d be a shame for innocent businesses to lose that revenue on account of a homicidal individual, although I can understand excluding them to be on the safe side.

May I inquire as to the size of Mr. Vespucci’s bakery? I’m no baker, but I assume that baking such a cake would be more than a one-man job. I find it hard to believe that he was able to sneak a bomb in there without his coworkers/employees noticing, which suggest accomplices or conspiracy. Or is it a one-man business?

Although looking at the time, I think this answer can wait till after this case is resolved. Good luck with the sting, Monsieur!

If it is in fact a wedding, than that would make the couple’s clients one another’s beneficiary in the case of the worst (t least i believe that’s the case in NY-I could be wrong). Could there be a financial motive? Perhaps a family member trying to get their hands on some money by bumping one or both of your clients off? If any of the businesses involved in this event are run by family of your clients, I’d put them under close scrutiny.